Mystery of Penny Fitzgerald
by gravityfalls13
Summary: Five years after getting kicked out of their home City, Elmore, Gumball and Darwin get assigned on an investigation in the exact same place to find out how their former middle school classmate vanished one day.


**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SHOW OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS.**

 **Enjoy the first chapter of this fanfiction c:**

"This is important, Watterson."

"I know. I'm sorry Sir."

The man with a black suit sighed at the mischievous boy. The room fell into a deafening silence which no one dared to break. Gumball was sure that the man would be able to hear his heartbeat. It pumped faster and faster as the silence grew. His chest moved to the rhythm of the beat and he was ready for his heart to fly out of his mouth any second.

"She left without a trace." Paul spoke, tracing his dry lips with the tip of his index finger. "All her belongings left right where they were at home."

Gumball's face was now filled with confusion but he kept his lips shut tight. He knew better than to interrupt Paul while he was in the middle of discussion. He'd learn that the first day his innocent and oblivious self set foot in there. Never again.

Paul noticed the discomfort in the blue-skinned cat and a frown formed on his face. _Typical._ He thought as he eyed the boy in disgust. "You have no clue on what we're discussing, 17-D?" He asked, using his alternative name. "There's this thing called ears." Paul stood up from his chair, leaned forward over his desk and poked his pen inside Gumball's ear. "Use it."

"Yes sir."

Paul threw a document file in his direction for him to read and understand. "Read that." He leaned back on his chair comfortably. "I'll let you off easy but remember, there'll be consequences if there's a next time to this."

Gumball nod his head rapidly before quickly going through some papers in the file. There was some information written about this girl. _Another missing kid?_

 _Age: 17_

 _Birthday: 25_ _th_ _May 1995_

 _Last seen: 9_ _th_ _June 2012 at her parents' home in the City of Elmore_

There was a picture attached to the corner of a happy looking girl with antlers growing out of either side of her head. Black holes for eyes and mouth. Gumball could spot a red and white band around her wrist. It all looked so familiar. _Could it be?_ Below the picture were some tiny letters. He looked closer.

 _Penny Fitzgerald._

 _Penny._

He read it over and over again trying to process the information he just read. _Penny the living peanut? Penny the 12 year old cheerleader from his middle school? No._

He couldn't bring himself to believe that the girl who he was very fond of as a young preteen had her picture attached to a missing person documentary. He had grown out of his feelings for her. He had to. After moving to another city, him and his family had to start from the very begging. The Wattersons were banned from Elmore after being falsely accused of crime. They were allowed to visit once in a while for a month or two, but they could never live there.

He slowly closed the file and gently placed it on Paul's desk. Darwin, looked over at his brother, expecting Gumball to burst out a bunch of questions but he remained silent as he waited for Paul to speak first.

"I've been thinking since I received a report of this missing girl last night." Paul said as he looked over at the two brothers. "Weren't you both from Elmore?"

Both nodded as they wondered where Paul was going with this.

"I assume you know your way around the city." He added as he took the picture attached to the paper. "And by chance, was Ms. Fitzgerald someone you knew of?"

"Yes Sir."

"Even better." Paul reached for some keys in his pocket and threw them towards Darwin, who had to take it from the floor as he didn't manage to catch it. "You both, will be driving my car to Elmore City where I've managed to get you both a place to stay for as long as you need to solve this case. If she is not found within the City, then we'll arrange something else."

"Where exactly do you want us to drive?" Gumball asked after Paul told them to take leave. "Sir." He added quickly when Paul shot him a look.

"24/3 Cerbean Street."

… …. …..

"Yup, this looks like it Darwin." The two looked at the simple but beautiful house in front of them. The two boys inhaled the familiar scent of their hometown and couldn't help but smile with ecstasy.

Not a single soul was in sight as it had been past midnight when they arrived.

"Race you to the font porch!" Darwin yelled as he ran towards the door.

"Hey no fair, you took a head start." Gumball caught up with the goldfish as he desperately tried to fill his lungs with oxygen.

Gumball moved his fingers inside his pockets to look for the key that Paul gave him. "Gotcha!" He took out a small silver key and inserted it into the lock. He twisted it a couple of times before the door opened wide.

It was a neat and tidy living room. The house had or bedrooms or beds so they had to sleep on the sofas. A small television stood on a wooden cabinet in front of the sofas although there was no cable. A refrigerator in the corner with water bottles and a letter on the dining table behind the sofas that had some amount of money. A note taped to the refrigerator asked them to take the cell phones provided to both of them on top of the refrigerator.

"Sweet. We get our own phones." Gumball said, grabbing one of the phones from Darwin who had managed to get two when Gumball was reading the note. He frowned at the sight that the only two people in the contacts were each other and Paul. "Remind me why we're working for that pathetic loser again?"

"No one else would hire us and we need money cause we're broke?" Darwin said. "Come on Gumball. We'll only be working for him for a couple of years before we get enough money to run our own business." Gumball smiled at the thought of owning his own business and not being told by an old guy of what to do. "just imagine, Gumball and Darwin, owners of the biggest company in the world." Darwin spoke with his eyes glittering with his high dreams and expectations. "For once, we'll be the one's incharge and telling other people what to do." He laughed at the thought. "We've got a long day tomorrow. Let's get some shut eye."

Their slumber didn't last long before Darwin's phone started ringing loudly with an obnoxious ringtone enough to wake the sleeping cat as well.

"Sir?" Darwin put his phone on speaker as Gumball walked over to his sofa to listen to what Paul had to say.

"I hope you I didn't wake you boys up did I?"

"No Sir. We were planning on staying awake all night in case we might receive a phone call from you."

"Good, because I want you two to drive up to the Fitzgerald's home in an hour to investigate this Penny girl's belongings. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." And the line went dead.

"Why in the world could he not wait until morning to assign us with investigation?" Gumball was not at all in the mood to investigate anything. He rubbed his eyes with the back of hid paws before heading towards the front door. Tired or not, he had no choice.

"I need to use the bathroom first." Darwin said as he half walked/ half danced towards the bathroom door. He could hear a loud 'that's better' before the flushing of the toilet and Darwin stepped out with a grin on his face as always. Gumball couldn't help but laugh at the sight.


End file.
